


Emergency Swim Session

by RainbowSparkles29



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, How Do I Tag, Most people are mentioned but they aren't significant, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 18:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21020024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowSparkles29/pseuds/RainbowSparkles29
Summary: It's time for an emergency swim session - but first, the campers have to get back to camp.Takes place immediately after S4 E16: Panicked Room.





	Emergency Swim Session

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, this is probably really bad, forgive me

“Emergency swim session! All campers report to the swim bay!”

David quickly hurried the children away from the now-impure escape room. Once they were decently close to the shore of Spooky Island, he lingered behind to speak to Gwen, who was muttering to herself about ‘new inspiration’ she’d suddenly found for her fanfiction. 

Max, meanwhile, was biding his time trying to figure out how he could get out of swimming. This time, David was actually there, and he’d likely go to hell and back to get Max in the water. That, of course, would create way more problems than he was prepared to face at the moment. Sighing, Max shoved his hands into his pockets, and picked up his pace to catch up with the other campers.

On the shore were four canoes - and one would have to be left behind for Campbell and Miss Priss. With one canoe down, everyone would have to group together differently if they wanted to make it back to camp in one go. Understanding that the more campers on a boat, the more likely someone would fall out, David tried to push the campers to wear life jackets, to no avail.

Neil was already in a canoe, busy making final preparations to a makeshift engine, fit with a propeller improvised from various parts of Space Kid’s toy rockets. Max eyed it with curiosity, while Nikki fought a losing battle with herself to try and not touch anything as Neil had told her.

“So, like, I don’t even have to do anything and it’ll move the boat?” Ered questioned after walking over to chat to Nikki. She promptly took a seat next to her admirer who was already in the boat, and Nerris clambered in after, securing a place with two of her three best friends at camp. There was still room for Max, but only if Neil moved away from the engine where he was still working, meaning the boy was left waiting to actually get on the boat. Ered had paused for effect before stating what her opinion of the engine was. 

“That’s pretty cool.”

“But does it actually work, Neil?” Nerris said sceptically.

“Of course! I’m using David’s phone to power it, after all,” Neil replied, which was true - in the centre of the tangle of wires was, indeed, David’s phone. To prove a point, he turned on the machine, and then realised two things. One: Nikki had  _ not  _ anchored the canoe to a tree like she’d been asked. Two: Neil had not included a steering mechanism. Or a breaking mechanism. His shouts of ‘Sorry, Max!’ could barely be heard over the crashing of the water that the propeller made as it darted across the lake with only four of the intended five campers inside. They likely still heard Max’s screams of ‘Neil, you fucking idiot!’, though, due to his sheer volume.

Preston and Dolph made their way onto their own boat, which had previously been occupied by Ered too. Seeing a convenient space, Nurf replaced the cool girl. This might not have been a problem, except none of the boys actually knew how to row a boat, so Gwen had to join them. This meant bringing Space Kid, too, because on the off-chance that he fell into the water, it would be better to have a councillor there to save him (especially considering how heavy his suit was - it wouldn’t be hard to lose him to the bottom of Lake Lilac forever). The mismatch of people made the boat rock back and forth as Gwen tried to balance it out, which proved difficult, as she wasn’t used to dealing with four extra campers in her boat - usually it was just her and David, who proved to be much more cooperative.

Harrison, watching the commotion, decided he’d rather take his chances with magic than add to the already full boat. He muttered a remark of seeing everyone back at camp, took a few steps, and vanished in a puff of smoke. It got a reaction from Space Kid who stood up in surprise, wobbling the canoe further and really making Gwen lose it. She started yelling out orders for the campers to row and none of them dared to make a mistake under fear of being thrown overboard.

That left two people. Max and David. Though really not wanting to row back with David, Max had no choice. Even if the councillor wasn’t as insufferable as he’d originally seemed, it would still ruin Max’s mood if he tried to push some lesson about the hare and the tortoise and taking your time to get the best results. That being said, their boat  _ was _ the least full, making for a more enjoyable experience than, say, the unfortunate souls that had angered Gwen. Reluctantly, Max clambered on board.

The day was bright and sunny, and there was a distinct peaceful atmosphere as David rowed across the lake. Rays of light reflected off of the blue lake, and birds were chirping happily. It was strange for there to be no sound of chaos for once. Maybe Max would be lying if he said he didn’t like it. Maybe.

Max didn’t have much time to take in his surroundings, though, since he still needed an excuse to get out of swimming. He came to the conclusion that ‘injuring’ one of his legs by hitting it against the side of the boat would be convincing enough. At that thought, Max stood up quickly, forgetting that he was still on the water - David’s rowing had made the canoe move very smoothly through the lake. With this mistake, the boat started to rock, and Max, failing to account for this, lost his balance, stumbled, and ultimately fell over backwards and plunged into the water.

The following occurred:

David had turned his head just in time to see Max falling into the lake. He sprang over to the side, trying not to flip the boat, and held his hand out for the boy to grab onto. He hadn’t stopped the boat, though, and it drifted away from Max to the point where David couldn’t reach him.

“Swim over, Max! It’s okay, don’t panic, just swim over!”

This was, of course, not possible.

All the while, Max was thrashing about, trying his hardest to stay afloat with what little knowledge of swimming he had. Despite how much he might mention wanting to die, he didn’t  _ actually  _ want to die - and his screams and wails of terror mixed in with various curses helped to show that. David was still telling him to  _ keep calm  _ instead of actually saving him, all because Max didn’t want him finding out about a shitty secret. Fuck.

“David-!” Max yelled, still fighting for his life to keep his head above the water, his speech broken up every time his mouth sank back underneath. “I can’t- fuck- I CAN’T SWIM!”

And at that, Max gave up. There was no saving him. His clothes were utterly drenched, especially his hoodie, which was impossible to take off and so heavy that it almost single-handedly pulled him under. He took one last breath and let gravity take over. Into the murky depths he sank, his life flashing before his eyes. Maybe this is what he deserved. There were many things he had sudden regrets about - the last thing he’d ever said to his friends was that Neil was a fucking idiot. He’d never get to tell David that he was like the dad his own father could never even hope to be. He’d never get to apologise for all the shitty things he’d done and said, never get to grow up and be better than who he was right now. And, above all else, he wondered why he couldn’t have just worn a shitty life jacket.

But before he could drown, there was a tug at Max’s hair. Then another, and another. Something grasped around his body and lifted him up - up through the water, up through the darkest pits of hell where Max’s thoughts were lingering, up into the icy breeze and the cold but awakening truth of reality and life. It was David, who had stripped off his life jacket and plunged into the lake himself as soon as Max had gone underwater. He hauled the half-dead boy back onto the boat before carefully getting back on it himself. Max was coughing and spluttering, but ultimately okay, as he hadn’t been under the surface long enough to pass out and need CPR. That didn’t stop David from hammering the boy with a thousand are-you-okays and I’m-so-sorrys, though.

“I’m so sorry, Max,” David repeated yet again, “I didn't know you couldn't swim!”

“Whatever - look, you  _ can't  _ let anyone know about this!”

“I understand, Max. But don't beat yourself up over something you can't do - it just takes a few lessons to-”

“No, not the swimming thing, they all know about it already!” Max interrupted. “Do you know how much they'll tease me if they find out I screamed for my life after falling into the lake?!”

Though baffled at how he didn't know about Max’s inability to swim when everyone else did, David eventually nodded to show he understood.

“Alright, Max. And, for the record, I know you might not want swimming lessons from me, of all people,” David said, pausing to confirm the fact based on Max’s face, “but swimming is an invaluable life skill, and, well, just a fun thing to do! So, if you ever do want to learn… I'd be more than happy to teach you.”

“Hey, David?” Max said suddenly.

“Yes, Max?”

“Thanks. For, you know, saving my life.” At this, Max gave David a quick hug, but broke away quickly before the councillor could react. They were both soaked, and noticing Max’s slight shiver, David picked up the pace and rowed back to the camp.

There was the usual chaos back at camp - Gwen’s boat had completely capsized, and no one had been happy to swim all the way to the shore, especially not Preston, who'd kept complaining about how his outfit was ruined. Neil’s engine had proven too effective, and continued to propel the boat on land, where it crashed into the Quartermaster’s store, causing more problems than it solved. Harrison had managed to reappear at the top of a tree. As everyone was preoccupied, either with drying off or pleading for their lives, no one noticed a completely drenched Max and David arriving late. What people did notice, however, was Max apologising for miscellaneous wrongdoings he’d done weeks ago. They noticed a small but definite change in his attitude, and they noticed him taking safety more seriously.

And David certainly noticed when the boy approached him, saying he wanted swimming lessons.

It would be a lie to say that Max didn’t appreciate them.


End file.
